The Heavy Metal Miners of Motherlode is a colossal, cultured nation, ruled by Shu-luft with an even hand, and notable for its barren, inhospitable landscape, deadly medical pandemics, and ban on automobiles. The hard-nosed population of 7.916 billion Miners have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The relatively small government juggles the competing demands of Administration, Industry, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Arcadia 3. The average income tax rate is 9.7%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The all-consuming Miner economy, worth 790 trillion Love Potions a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, broadly diversified black market in Uranium Mining, Soda Sales, Woodchip Exports, and Pizza Delivery. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 99,836 Love Potions, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.9 times as much as the poorest.

Soldiers are slaughtered in their thousands due to lack of training, state media insists that Shu-luft is the most fashionable leader in United Earth Space Probe Agency, the nation refuses to discard its increasingly useless penny, and weird kids who eat bugs are breaking the law. Crime, especially youth-related, is pervasive, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Motherlode's national animal is the Ursinoid, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Motherlode is ranked 291,000^th in the world and 160^th in United Earth Space Probe Agency for Lowest Crime Rates, with 24.27 law-abiding acts per hour.